- The owner of the place, in addition to hiring the workers in an irregular situation and imposing abusive conditions, made continuous touches, such as pinch and lashes, as well as sexual offers in exchange to help them bring their relatives to Spain
- Marisol Garmendia: “As a woman and as a government delegate, the success of this operation is a source of pride and an incentive to continue working for the benefit of citizens”
- The researchers managed to determine that the three investigated had been hiring irregular workers since 2018
- In many cases, female employees had to work six days a week, for ten hours a day, in exchange for salaries ranging from 600 to 800 euros, without a work contract
The National Police has arrested three people as alleged perpetrators of crimes against workers’ rights, repeatedly employing without a work contract, and imposing abusive working conditions, several women in a bar in Getxo. In addition, the owner of the establishment is also charged with crimes of sexual assault, by repeatedly making alleged sexual touches and offers to waitresses.
The delegate of the Government, Marisol Garmendia, has valued this operation. “Once again, the action of the National Police has made it possible to rescue vulnerable women from the labor exploitation to which they were being subjected in a bar in Getxo. Labour exploitation is an intolerable form of slavery in the 21st century and in this case, moreover, it was aggravated by sexual abuse that is also absolutely unjustifiable in our society.”
Garmendia has also highlighted the benefits of collaboration and coordination between the National Police and the Labour Inspectorate. “Joint action and the union of forces of
The police and the Labour Inspectorate have made it possible to successfully carry out this investigation, protect the exploited women and arrest the suspects. As a woman and government delegate, it is a source of pride and an incentive for us to continue working for the benefit of our citizens.”
The investigations, carried out by the Provincial Brigade of Foreigners and Borders of Bilbao, were initiated as a result of the statements of six victims who told UCRIF Group I researchers to work in a bar in Getxo despite not having a residence and work permit.
They explained to the researchers that the owner of the establishment, his wife and a manager interviewed them and monitored their schedules and performance, offering them to work six days a week, ten hours a day, in exchange for 1,000 euros a month.
When they started working because of their precarious situation, they discovered that they could not enjoy any rest throughout the working day, that they had to work even if they were sick and that their salaries, far from what had been agreed, were 20 euros per day, paying them from 600 euros to 800 euros per month, without being hired and, therefore, registering for Social Security. In this sense, the owner of the premises went as far as to deduct part of the salary of one of the victims in order to pay a sanction imposed by the Labour Inspectorate of Bizkaia.
Likewise, they said that this man made continuous touches, such as pinch and lashes while working, as well as sexual offers in exchange for helping them bring their relatives to Spain or letting them sleep in a place that the suspect has in Getxo.
Given the plausibility and consistency of the statements and the seriousness of the facts narrated, the agents immediately conferred on them the status of protected witnesses and began a rapid investigation that allowed to corroborate the given versions, determining that the three investigated had been hiring workers in an irregular situation since 2018. In addition, consulting the appropriate sources, they confirmed that the administrators of the leisure establishment were the couple identified by the victims and a third suspect performing the functions of manager.
For all of this, agents of the Brigade of Foreigners and Borders together with members of the Provincial Inspection of Labour and Social Security of Bizkaia carried out an inspection in the bar, proceeding to the arrest of the three suspects; a Colombian of 61 years and his partner, of Bolivian nationality and 40 years, and the person in charge of the premises, 31 years old and compatriot of the previous one.